Book Review
Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover
YA | Contemporary | Romance
Reader’s Thoughts:
Inspired by the childhood game of MASH, Ro Devereux creates a future-predicting app for her senior year project. The app tells users their future: where they’ll live, their career, how many kids they’ll have, and even their perfect dating match. But things first start spiraling out of control when Ro is matched with Miller — a childhood best friend to whom she is no longer speaking — and as the popularity of the app rises, and the stakes grow, Ro realizes that maybe life isn’t as predictable as she’d thought.
This YA, contemporary romance has an entertaining, social-media-filled storyline. The MASH aspect feels both nostalgic and relatable for a variety of readers, and the main characters are messy and authentically flawed, but completely lovable. I rarely finish books in a day — but this was one that was both a fast read, and difficult to put down.
Ro has a really strong backstory and I loved how her past motivated her and gave her the skills necessary to create a “future-telling app.” It was definitely a big story that occasionally stretched believability but it was fun, regardless.
I’m always a sucker for a fake dating trope and “Mo” was so easy to fall in love with. This slow burn, second-chance romance was built around the sweetest childhood friendship between Ro and Miller. The flashbacks felt natural and not over done, and this story explored the messy aspect of real-life relationships. Ro experienced a lot of character growth in a way that felt natural, and there were also some well-written takeaways for readers — such as, life isn’t always predictable, and don’t change who you are just because social media tells you to want something different, etc.
Overall, this was a really sweet romance and an amusing debut story!
Recommended for:
Fans of YA stories and a fake-dating trope.
This post contains affiliate links; as an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Advance copy of the book provided courtesy of HarperTeen, an imprint of Harper Collins . All opinions expressed are my own.
About the book:
(From the publisher): A clever, charming, and poignant debut novel about a girl who must decide whether to pursue her dreams or preserve her relationships, including a budding romance with her ex-best friend, when an app she created goes viral.
Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can.
Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soul mates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors.
Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—that the app works. So it’s a huge shock when the app says her soul mate is Miller, her childhood best friend with whom she had a friendship-destroying fight three years ago. Now thrust into a fake dating scenario, Ro and Miller must address the years of pain between them if either of them will have any chance of achieving their dreams.
Fans of Emma Lord and Alex Light will love this stand-alone contemporary novel with a masterful slow-burn romance at its core.